Dec. 4, 2014
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - For the 25th consecutive season, Penn State will host the first and second rounds of the NCAA Women's Volleyball Tournament. The defending NCAA champion Nittany Lions (30-3) open the tournament against MAAC champ Siena (19-14) on Friday at 7:30 p.m. in Rec Hall.
The winner of the Penn State-Siena match will move on to face either American (26-6) or Dayton (29-5) on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. American and Dayton will meet in Rec Hall on Friday at 5 p.m.
For the Nittany Lions, they enter the tournament red-hot on a 14-match winning streak. Penn State has not lost a set since Oct. 17 at Purdue. The Lions have won 13-straight matches in 3-0 fashion.
Led by a quartet of seniors and Big Ten Freshman of the Year Haleigh Washington, the Nittany Lions head into the postseason with confidence.
"We always talk about it, it's go time," said senior Dominique Gonzalez. "We have six matches potentially left in the season. Everyone is excited for it. It's a dogfight in every match no matter who you are playing, and I think we are excited for that. It's tournament time for us, and that means the most. We are really looking forward to getting out there and playing in front of our home crowd."
Individually, senior Micha Hancock, senior Nia Grant and Washington were named first-team All-Big Ten earlier this week. Redshirt junior Aiyana Whitney and freshman Ali Frantti were named All-Big Ten honorable mention.
The Nittany Lions are one of six Big Ten teams in the 2014 NCAA Tournament. Wisconsin is the No. 4 seed, Illinois is the No. 9 seed and Nebraska is the No. 14 seed. Michigan State and Ohio State round out the Big Ten teams in the field. Wisconsin, Penn State and Ohio State are all in the Louisville Regional quarter of the bracket.
"We've had some great matches these past few weeks, but I think our main focus is to stay focused," Gonzalez said. "It will be competitive, and great teams are always capable of forcing you to do some things wrong and expose you. But you just need to stay composed and remain focused."
Now, it is win or go home for all 64 teams on the bracket. The 2014 NCAA Tournament begins on Friday inside Rec Hall.